List of Piston Cup fatalities
Thankfully fatalities in the Piston Cup are much rarer these days but a total of eighteen racers so far are known to have died due to crashes in Piston Cup Series, including CARCA and young racers at 17-20. Greg Locke was most recent Piston Cup race death but Sam Byron in 2000 and James Thompson in 2001 were most recent in the sport. 1. Jim Herron in 1953. Racer Jim Herron, a 1948 Plymouth Special Deluxe Coupe NASCAR, was one of the original Piston Cup racers from 1950-1953. In the Revolting 200 Herron died after losing control and overshooting the track and falling. Herron sponsored Re-Volting in the 84 alongside Leroy Heming in the 300 until his death. 2. Donald Williams in 1958. Donald Williams who debuted in 1954 as a 1954 Buick Roadmaster NASCAR would die in a hard hit from Leroy Hemming which essentially caused massive internal injuries in the Las Vegas 400. 3. Mitch Gears in 1966. Racer Gears, a 1958 Dodge Coronet NASCAR, was the first Fiber Fuel racer from 1958 to 1966. He died after hitting the wall which ended up in a spectacular fireball crash in the Dinoco 400. 4. Bobby Carsac in 1977. Died in a crash at Alabama Speedway in Calladega, direct details unknown. 5. James Carlidge in 1979. Great grandson of former president Calvin Carlidge he died after a fiery crash on turn 2 in the Leak Less 400. 6 Alex Rodriguez in 1980. He died in a CARCA race at Nightdona after he died in a 19 car crash after being hit while upside down. 7. Warren Carr in 1981. He and his hauler died while a bridge fell down. 8. Martin Gearson in 1982. A cousin of Ernie Gearson he died after he burst into flames after being hit by Tyler Robson(Not related to James) in the CARCA 200 at Nightdona. 9. Andrew Jackson in 1983. Died in a CARCA race after hitting the wall and then being hit hard on the side by a racer and bursting into flames. 10. Tyler Comet in 1986. He died in CARCA practicing at Road America after losing control and flipping violently in the sand and died 5 days later of massive injuries before he flew and landed in the fence. 11. Ronald Oaks in 1987. Died in a crash at LA. Grandfather of Ruby Oaks. (WARNING: NEXT CRASH NOT FOR FAINT OR EASILY SCARED) 12. Tom Landis in 1988. Probably the most brutal accident of them all. In the Pocono 400 racers Darrell Cartrip and 1979 rookie James Cleanair spun out. Clutch Aid racer Klint Shiftright, retired in 1999 and part-time stock car Kevin entered, tried to dodge but hit into Shiny Wax racer Tom Landis(who raced before Darren, who raced as rookie in 2000) causing him to get turned into the wall. Unfortunately the wall shredded the top of Landis completely off causing chaos in the stands. The now dead Landis landed back on his wheels with his mouth still open and insides visible. His remains were carried away and the race was red flagged and stopped and was not shown on TV due to this. It was reported his nose and right door was found in the stands while most of his roof was stuck in the catch fence. 13. Don Chapcar in 1988. Just four races after the brutal death of Landis backup Tank Coat racer Chapcar would die after overshooting the Daniel Raceway and falling to his death and catching fire. 14. Robert Axon in 1989. The first Piston Cup 17-20 fatality since its inaugural season in 1986 he died at the Pocono race after hitting the wall hard. He stayed in coma for 3 days before dying. 15. Laura Whiteford in 1992. The only female racer in the sport to die the 17-20 Piston Cup racer she died in The King 300. Flipping 17 times before hitting the inside wall. 16. Greg Locke in 1994. Dad of Lane. Greg Locke would die after hitting the wall, flying in the air and landing on one of the mobile homes. The mobile home survived with minimal damage. 17. Chad Revler (Not related to Rex) in 1996. The first and only Xfinity fatality since its debut in 1994. Chad Revler died in Nightdona due to a crash involved 5 cars (he, Dale Carrett (his father Ned was a 1960's CARCA racer), Bobby Carbonte (Terry was a 1980's Xfinity racer), Randy CarJoie and Mark Cartin). Chad would hit the wall, flip twice before landing in the grass on his wheels, Chad was badly damaged in the accident and he died two days later. 18. Sam Byron in 2000. Died in a crash in CARCA at Nightdona. 19. Dale Earnhardt Sr in 2001. See 2001 Nightdona 500 at Nightdona Speedway! 20. James Thompson in 2001. Died to due heart attack in a CARCA race at Charlotte. Trivia * Nightdona Speedway has claimed the most lives at 5 easily more then any other speedway.